Shri Dattatreya's Teachers - Teacher #5 : Fire

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

Bhagavata Purana: XI:vii:45, 46, 47, 49 [tr. C.L.Goswamy; Gita

Press, Gorakhpur].

 

Teacher #5. Fire -

 

tejasvii tapasaa diiptaH durdharshha-udara-bhaajanaH .

sarva-bhakshaH api yukta- aatmaa na aadatte malam agnivat.h .. 45..

 

Full of glory and made brighter by glow [in the shape of austerity]

formidable and having no vessel other than his belly, the yogi, like

fire, does not imbibe any impurity [in the form of sin] even though

consumung anything and everything [although he never consciousle eats

any impure substance]. 45 .

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kvachit shannaH kvachit spashhTaH upaasyaH shreyaH ichchhataam.h .

bhu~Nkte sarvatra daatR^INaa.n dahan praak - uttara- ashubham.h ..

46..

 

[Like fire, again,]he remains hidden from view at times and becomes

visible at others, [thereby] earning the respect of those who seek

blessedness. And burning the past as well as the futeure sin of those

who make an offering to him, he eats everywhere [only that which is

offered by others]. 46 .

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sva-maayayaa sR^ishhTam ida.n sat asat lakshaNa.n vibhuH .

pravishhTaH iiyate tat tat svaruupaH agniH iva edhasi .. 47..

 

[Again, even] as fire [though having no definite shape of its own]

assumes the shape of the firewood through which it reveals itself,

[so] having entered a particular body [viz. that of a divinity or a

sub-human creature] possessed of noble or ignoble characteristics and

evolved by His own Maya, the all-pervading Brahma appears endowed

with that very form. 47 .

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kaalena hi ogha/-vegena bhuutaanaaM prabhava api ayau .

nityau api na dR^ishyete aatmanaH agneH yathaa archishhaam.h .. 49..

 

Though taking place every moment by force of Time, which flits with

the rapidity of a stream [of water] the birth and death of bodies

assumed by the Spirit are not perceived any more than the rising and

going out of the flames of fire [which likewise takes place every

moment].

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Regards,

 

s.